Junpei Yoshino

Tokyo, the Zenin Clan estate.

Ze Zenin knelt in his room, leafing through the notebook in his hands. Before him sat a Go board covered in black and white stones.

"It's June 2018 now..."

Ze Zenin closed the notebook, its pages densely filled with records of various years. His thoughts raced as he picked up a black Go stone and murmured, "If I remember correctly, there are about four months left until the Shibuya Incident, right?"

"But the timeline seems to have gone off the rails now. If I make a trip to Kyoto, the Juvenile Detention Center incident will be harder to handle."

"Maybe I could also..."

Realization suddenly struck Ze Zenin, and he shook his head with a wry smile. He was still letting the original plot influence him too much.

This world was no longer the anime world he had known in his previous life. Thanks to his actions over the years, Suguru Geto hadn't had his body taken over, Okkotsu had become a jujutsu sorcerer six years early, and Satoru Gojo had grown stronger...

But whenever he thought of Suguru Geto, Ze Zenin couldn't help feeling regret and helplessness. He had never expected Kenjaku to take the initiative and recklessly attack Suguru Geto. Still, since he hadn't chosen to seize Geto's body outright, perhaps he had a better way of obtaining Cursed Spirit Manipulation?

Although there was no concrete evidence proving he was responsible, he was probably the only curse user capable of injuring Geto now.

That bastard probably already had a scheme in mind targeting him and Satoru Gojo.

Even with his memory loss, however, Suguru Geto still held a sense of justice in his heart, and in terms of strength, he remained one of the five special grade sorcerers in the world today...

Although he had lost some of his feelings toward the two of them and thus seemed distant, that still didn't affect the friendship Ze Zenin and Satoru Gojo felt for him.

At that thought, Ze Zenin placed the stone in his hand on the board. Black and white were now evenly matched.

"Having Itadori swallow Sukuna's Finger was the beginning of your plan..."

Ze Zenin placed another stone. "Then you tested Itadori as a vessel at the Juvenile Detention Center, joined forces with the cursed spirits and used them, stole the Death Painting Wombs and fingers during the Goodwill Event, sealed Satoru Gojo during the Shibuya Incident, and finally started the culling game to advance humanity's assimilation with Tengen..."

Recalling Kenjaku's actions from his previous life, Ze Zenin found it increasingly difficult to imagine how Kenjaku intended to play against him now. Sealing Satoru Gojo alone was probably already his limit. With Ze himself added to the equation...

"Perhaps you also have..." Ze Zenin recalled the cursed spirit on the verge of being born that he had let escape back then. His gaze turned cold, but he shook his head again. "It's just a cursed spirit stronger than Jogo and the others. However powerful it is, it's still only a cursed spirit."

"Kenjaku, how are you going to break out of this situation?"

"Our Inverted Spear of Heaven has your Prison Realm completely countered. What are you going to use to seal Gojo?"

Ze Zenin placed another stone, and the black stones he controlled dealt white a decisive defeat.

"But if something really does happen to me, then..."

Ze Zenin looked toward his wardrobe, from which a familiar trace of cursed energy faintly emanated.

"Before I leave for Kyoto, there's one more person whose situation I should do my best to sort out. It's been quite a while since I last saw him, too."

"Time to go."

One hour later, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Ze Zenin climbed down from Nue's back. Looking at the words "Unity and Friendship" written on the high school's gate before him, he gave a contemptuous chuckle. The scum inside the school wouldn't give a damn about those words.

He had suddenly remembered this boy while passing through Kanagawa Prefecture on a mission three years ago. The boy was a character whose fate in the original story had filled him with regret, so Ze Zenin had decided to intervene and change it.

Fortunately, the boy had still been in middle school then and hadn't suffered any bullying yet. Otherwise, Ze might genuinely have been unable to stop himself from killing someone. School bullies... they could all go to hell.

Anyone who bullied others had to be prepared to face judgment, even if that judgment came outside the law...

Using the Ten Shadows' shadow-swapping ability, Ze Zenin slipped into the high school without a sound. It happened to be break time, and no one noticed him as he walked through the school.

Soon, he reached a classroom window and looked at a boy inside.

As though sensing something, the boy turned his head and happened to spot Ze Zenin.

Even with the boy's eyes hidden beneath his long bangs, Ze Zenin seemed to see the joy beneath his hair. The boy quickly left his seat and came over to him.

"Mr. Zenin, what brings you here all of a sudden?" The boy's voice brimmed with delighted surprise.

"Come with me first. There are too many people here..." Rather than explain, Ze Zenin turned and walked away.

The boy didn't ask any more questions and silently followed him.

The two of them reached the school rooftop. With a gentle breeze brushing against him, the boy felt joy well up from the bottom of his heart. "Sir, the last time you came here was a year ago. It really feels like it's been ages!"

"Yes. Since I've been staying in Tokyo these past few years, we've only been keeping in touch by phone." Ze Zenin smiled faintly and leaned against the rooftop railing.

"Sir, that railing's old and really unstable. Someone fell to their death just a few days ago."

Ze Zenin: "..."

Ze Zenin silently moved away from the railing and cleared his throat, then addressed the boy solemnly. "Junpei, do you want to become a sorcerer?"

"Huh?" The boy, Junpei Yoshino, froze for a moment before sudden delight lit up his face. "Sir, can I really do that?"

Three years earlier, Junpei had learned about jujutsu from Ze Zenin and discovered that a cursed technique was engraved in his body. But because of the structure of his brain, he could only protect himself with the Taijutsu Ze Zenin had taught him.

It was that Taijutsu that had let him thoroughly beat up the people who had tried to bully him.

But since his cursed energy had yet to be unlocked, he still couldn't officially enroll at Jujutsu High...

"Of course." Ze Zenin smiled faintly. "Would I lie to you?"

"It should happen in a few days. I probably won't be coming here for a few months, so I came to explain things to you."

"Huh? Why?"

Junpei Yoshino suddenly felt a rush of panic. The teacher before him was the person closest to him besides his mother. He had long since come to think of him as family...

"It's nothing serious."

Seeing Junpei Yoshino's reaction, Ze Zenin couldn't help smiling. "I'll probably be going to Kyoto for a few months. I should be back in three months."

"Kyoto?" Junpei Yoshino paused. "That doesn't seem very far. Maybe I could..."

"Hold it, hold it." Ze Zenin sounded a little exasperated. "I'm going there for work. Though I suppose it's not exactly voluntary, since some people think I'm under too much stress..."

"You're under too much stress, sir?"

"Seriously?"

Junpei Yoshino eyed the utterly relaxed Ze Zenin dubiously, disbelief written all over his face.

"You little brat, you dare doubt your teacher?" Ze Zenin glared at Junpei Yoshino and poked his forehead.

"I wouldn't dare!" Junpei Yoshino covered his forehead and took a step back in pain.

"All right, then. I'll stop keeping you in suspense." Ze Zenin's expression grew solemn, and he slowly began to speak.

"Soon, you'll encounter a cursed spirit named Mahito. All you need to do is pretend to..."